JULY 27, 2021

Increase Your Focus & Conquer Workout Distractions

How to get better results through increasing your focus and not let distractions stand in your way.

By House Fitness

When it comes to training as an athlete, there are several mindset pieces that are key to increasing your productivity and efficiency. Mental toughness, resilience, stress management, confidence, and a realistic vision all play an incredibly crucial role… But, perhaps one of the most important (and often overlooked) elements is focus.

Focus is a key mindset piece that — when leveraged correctly — can really move the needle forward in your training.

What Does It Mean to Be Focused? Why Is It Important?

As an athlete, when you increase your focus, you’re improving your ability to become more present, more intentional, and less distracted. In this state, you can achieve more. On the physical side, you will be able to maximize your muscle development, become more in intune with your body, increase your productivity, and tremendously increase your overall performance (in all areas from endurance to flexibility to strength). Mentally, you will have an increased likelihood of success in reaching your goals, have a greater understanding of what is actually required to get yourself where you want to go, have a more positive outlook, and most importantly, improve your mind-muscle connection.

How to Become More Focused…

Simply focusing on your breathing can bring you to a state of flow (or focus). A 1-5 minute breathing protocol before you get started on your workout can center you, clear your mind, and prepare you both physically and mentally.

Focus on your mind-muscle connection. When you engage in a certain exercise, what are the specific muscles you are activating? When you pay attention to how these muscles are firing, you can activate them more. Through this concentrated focus, you can maximize your muscle development. Studies have shown that the level of mental effort a person puts into their workouts can dramatically increase their muscle gain. In 2017, a randomized controlled trial found that the group of individuals focused on mental effort increased muscle gain far greater than the group that was focused on workout intensity alone.
Set an intention for the workout. Ask yourself, “What do I want to get out of today?” The answer can be as simple as, “I just want to sweat,” or specific as, “I want to improve on this key area.” Throughout your workout, remind yourself of this intention. Repeat it, ask yourself questions, and continually check in to make sure you’re still aligned with it.
Prime your mindset for the workout. This not only includes setting your overall intention for the workout but also positive self-talk, affirmations, and counteracting negative beliefs.
Have a workout plan or framework. Without a general outline of what you’re going to be doing, you’ll be making more decisions on the fly which will distract you from your workout and create more barriers for getting into a state of flow.

Continue to use affirmations throughout your workout. Replace “I can’t do this,” with, “I can do this.” A negative mindset is not optimal for getting the most out of your workout.
‘Visualization’ is a powerful tool. Create a mental image in your mind of the physical movement you are engaging in. The more detailed, the better. Think of it like manifesting in real-time. Getting this clear picture in your mind of successfully completing the action you’re setting out to do, makes your body and mind believe it. This practice helps you overwrite negative belief patterns, reduces anxiety, and helps you stay focused on your goal/s.

What Distracts Us From Being Focused During a Workout (and What We Can Do About It)

When you’re not focused, you increase your rate of error, put yourself at a greater risk of injury, and actually decrease your productivity up to 40%.

As critical as it is to take proactive measures to increase our focus, it is just as important to take proactive measures in reducing the distractions that are holding us back.

Be wary of technology. Technology can be a helpful tool for keeping you on task but it also can lead you to losing your focus. For example, TV could be a helpful tool while you’re walking on the treadmill but it could be a huge distraction if you’re trying to count reps. Or, if you’re using your phone while cooling down between sets this could cure temporary boredom but at the detriment of possibly breaking your focus. It’s all about balance. You’ve got to know when to leverage it. “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” — Christian Lange

Dependence on external factors. Taking stimulants like pre-workout or coffee to help put yourself in the right state of mind before you workout may be a sign that you’re on the wrong path. The same applies to whether you need an item of clothing, piece of equipment, or tool that’s not truly necessary to your workout. If you need to rely on external factors or conditions outside of yourself, your dependence will limit your ability to be truly focused.